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When It Rains…
In The Final Chapter ' |image= |series= |production=40510-571 |producer(s)= |story= René Echevarria and Spike Steingasser |script= René Echevarria |director= Michael Dorn |imdbref=tt0708663 |guests=Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat, Casey Biggs as Damar, Scott Burkholder as Hilliard, Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn, J. G. Hertzler as General Martok, Barry Jenner as Admiral Ross, Robert O'Reilly as Gowron, Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak, John Vickery as Gul Rusot, Stephen Yoakam as Velal, Vaughn Armstrong as Seskal and Colby French as Ensign Weldon |previous_production=The Changing Face of Evil |next_production=Tacking Into the Wind |episode=DS9 S07E21 |airdate= 5 May 1999 |previous_release=(DS9) The Changing Face of Evil (Overall) 11:59 |next_release=(DS9) Tacking Into the Wind (Overall) Relativity |story_date(s)=52684.3 (2375) |previous_story=The Fight |next_story=Think Tank }} Summary At a strategy meeting, Chief Miles O'Brien reveals that only one ship survived the previous Second Battle of Chin'Toka: a Klingon Bird-of-Prey that made a chance adjustment in its warp core which immunized it to the Breen's devastating energy dampening weapon. However, this fix cannot be applied to Federation and Romulan ships, putting the Allies at a severe disadvantage. Fortunately, the Dominion is putting its final offensive on hold in order to deal with Damar's uprising of the Cardassian military. To help Damar lead the revolt against Cardassia, Benjamin Sisko orders Kira Nerys to go with Garak to Cardassia to teach the Cardassians the techniques of guerilla warfare. Admiral Ross grants Kira a field commission in Starfleet, with the rank of Commander. Julian Bashir's idea of using changeling tissue to create better synthetic organs for solids leads to his discovering that Odo is infected with the same disease plaguing the Great Link. Odo decides to go with Kira to Cardassia anyway. Bashir tries hard to get Odo's medical records from his visit to Earth three years ago, but when he receives a phony file he realizes that Section 31 created the disease and used Odo as a carrier. After inducting Martok into the Order of Kahless, Gowron announces he will take a more active role in the conduct of the war. Gowron designs a plan to attack the Dominion, even though Worf and Martok point out that the Klingons would be outnumbered twenty to one. Anjohl Tennan (Dukat) sneaks a look at the book of the Kosst Amojan and the Pah-wraiths punish him by blinding him. Winn throws Anjohl out (she was already aware of his true identity) and tells him he can return when his sight is restored. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Ryan Smith on Saturday, May 01, 1999 - 10:11 pm: I'm curious what Starfleet rank is analogous to Colonel in the Bajoran Militia. The teaser shows her wearing Starfleet pips (though it would be interesting if she wore the provisional pins the Maquis wear on Voyager). '' Aaron Dotter on Sunday, May 02, 1999 - 11:00 am:'' The picture of her that I saw shows her to be a Commander, although this seems like a step down. I suppose you have to consider that she hasn't been to the Academy and is not a Federation citizen, and stuff like that. SupremeTrekker on Monday, May 03, 1999 - 4:47 pm: About Kira's Starfleet rank… I'm just assuming that the Bajoran rank system is similar to that of the US Army or that of the US Marine Corps.. in which case, her rank of Lt. Colonel WOULD in fact be a Commander rank in Starfleet's rank structure which is identical to that of the US Navy's system. Richie Vest on Monday, May 03, 1999 - 7:37 pm: Actually I thought Kira was a full colonel. I could be wrong though SupremeTrekker on Monday, May 03, 1999 - 8:13 pm:''Hmmm... really? I thought she was a Lt. Colonel. Then if that's the case, she should be a captain... oh well, I guess we'll find out next week.''Nathan K. on Monday, May 03, 1999 - 8:21 pm: She's never been referred to as anything else (even in the credits), but it's common in Star Trek for people to drop the "lieutenant" from ranks like Lt. Commander in speech. Would Lt. Colonel be the next rank up from Major? If so, it would make sense for Kira to have that rank. BWH on Tuesday, May 04, 1999 - 4:26 am: OK, folks here's a breakdown of the US military officer's rank structure, Army, Air Force, and Marines vs. Navy. Second Lieutenant = Ensign First Lieutenant = Lieutenant Junior Grade Captain = Lieutenant Major = Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Colonel = Commander Colonel = Captain Brigadier General = Rear Admiral (lower half) (this rank used to be Commodore) Major General = Rear Admiral (upper half) Lieutenant General = Vice Admiral General = Admiral When addressing someone with two words in their rank, you always use the higher of the two. For example, a Second Lieutenant is addressed as "Lieutenant," a Lieutenant Commander is addressed as "Commander," and a Major General is addressed as "General." So if the Bajoran Militia uses the same rank structure as the US armed forces, Kira's rank would go from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, the equivalent of the Navy's Commander, and she would be addressed as "Colonel Kira". This means that Sisko still outranks her. Even if she were a full colonel, he would still outrank her because he would have been a Captain longer. The fact that they don't put her full rank in the credits doesn't mean much. After all they've never done that for O'Brien. Of course, "Senior Chief Petty Officer O'Brien" might take up more screen space than they're willing to give. # Murray Leeder on Monday, May 03, 1999 - 9:05 pm: The implication is that this is the first time Gowron had seen Worf in a few years, at least since his initiation into the House of Martok ("Soldiers of the Empire"). But Martok and Worf visited Gowron (off camera, mind you) in Sacrifice of Angels Perhaps Gowron only spoke to Martok during the Sacrifice of Angels visit. # confused on Wednesday, May 05, 1999 - 6:05 pm: I don't understand. How can it make sense if Odo gets symptons after the rest of the shapeshifters, but he had the disease first? Matthew Patterson (Mpatterson) on Wednesday, May 05, 1999 - 6:20 pm: Maybe the disease just had a shorter gestation period in the other Changelings? Or maybe the disease goes faster the more you link. So, since Odo hasn't been linked much, it wouldn't have developed as fast. But when he was linked in Broken Link, he passed it on to the rest of them, and they spent all of their time in the link, accelerating the devastation. BWH on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 5:33 am: Also Odo was Human from Broken Link through The Begotten, about half a year. So either his becoming Human purged the disease from his body and he got it back when he linked with the female Changeling at the start of the sixth season, or the disease laid dormant while he was Human and resurfaced when he became a Changeling again. Chris C. on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 8:07 am: I wouldn't think that being a human would have purged the virus from Odo's body; I mean, for this virus to have any chance at all it would have to be able to survive in anything from fog to solid rock (otherwise there'd be a real easy cure). Presumably Section 31 would have done something to Odo to keep the symptoms from surfacing as long as possible; otherwise they'd be risking a) Odo showing symptoms and thus warning the Founders and b) Bashir getting interested in curing Odo and finding out the truth. Giorgi on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 9:07 am: I am probably missing something, but why did the virus take so long to show itself in Odo if he was the original carrier? Kyle Powderly on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 12:44 pm: Chris, I think the Changelings don't entirely become the object, but retain at some level the essence that makes them Changelings and able to return to other shapes. The infection probably works on that level, which is also why the writers can safely navigate the whole 'why didn't a transporter's bio-filter ever pick up that he had an infection?' Murray Leeder on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 2:09 pm: You're all missing it. OF COURSE the virus would be engineered to affect Odo slower than everyone else - less risk of exposure that way! Plus, the implication was that Odo has been having symptoms for a while but has kept it hidden. dwmarch on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 3:01 pm: Maybe I'm getting basic biology confused with something else but I thought the carrier of a disease was immune to it... a carrier can't carry very far if it gets sick and dies itself...Chris George, DS9 Moderator (Cgeorge) on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 4:40 pm: It seems that Odo might have been the original carrier of the disease - then infected the rest of the great link. Being a solid for a while probably purged him of the disease - but then he went and linked again after that point, and infected him again, causing the symptoms to appear now. Maybe? Heh - sounds good to me. :-) Cody on Sunday, May 09, 1999 - 12:29 pm: Here’s a question: If Odo was infected so long ago....why was the Odo from Gaia not long dead from the disease? BWH on Sunday, May 09, 1999 - 2:25 pm: The fact that the alt-Odo in "Children of Time" was healthy supports my theory that being human rid him of the disease and he only got it back when he linked with the founder at the start of the sixth season. Either that or alt-Bashir found a cure for him. Shirlyn Wong on Sunday, May 09, 1999 - 8:52 pm: I think that Odo, being the carrier, had developed antibodies against the virus much like the little monkey in "Outbreak." Hans Thielman on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 9:58 am:''How could Odo have been the carrier of the changeling disease? Except for Laas this season, he has linked only with the founder leader, who was herself cut off from the Great Link by the wormhole entrance being mined or shut down. How then were the other changelings infected? ''Defrul on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 10:33 am: This is my theory about Odo's virus. Three years ago he was infected with the virus at Starfleet Medical. This happened before "Broken Link." During Broken Link, he was forced to return to the Great Link thereby infecting the entire Great Link with the virus. However, Odo was turned into a human in that episode, so he couldn't be affected by it. In "The Begotten" though, he was turned back into a changeling making him possibly susceptible to the virus if linked with other changelings. Then in "Behind the Lines" he actually does link with a Founder who has the virus. So Odo now has it. Therefore, Odo has had the virus about a year and a half less than the others. This would explain why his symptoms have not surfaced until now. # dwmarch on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 3:01 pm: Everyone in the show makes a big deal about Kira's uniform. Why? When the Dominion took the station and Odo got Kira set up as part of the management, she still had her Bajoran uniform on and she sat right next to Damar. And didn't he even bring her coffee once or twice? Bajor and the Dominion had a non agression pact during the time of the Dominion occupation, but the Federation is an enemy of the Dominion. # Why is Kira whining about the replicated food (and she was whining, she was just doing it the way a freedom-fighter does it)? It's REPLICATED. Broken down and reconstructed on a molecular level. Why would it taste any different from regular food? Chris George, DS9 Moderator (Cgeorge) on Thursday, May 06, 1999 - 4:40 pm: Perhaps the replicator was a field replicator, which has a very narrow range of replicated food patterns and perhaps a less sophisticated imager? Charles Cabe (Ccabe) on Friday, May 07, 1999 - 9:20 am: Characters on Star Trek complain about replicated food very often. IMHO, I doubt they could tell the difference. Sorta like complaining about diet coke. It tastes almost the same, but it comes from a different place. Matt Nelson on Saturday, May 08, 1999 - 8:24 pm: I haven't really thought of any nits, but, uh.. Ccabe? If you think Diet Coke tastes almost the same as Coke Classic, you need to have yourself checked. Diet Coke tastes more like Ye Olde Cesspoole Water. # Adam Howarter on Sunday, May 09, 1999 - 11:22 pm: Kira better be careful. If the Dominion found out she was helping Damar's underground they might take that as a violation of the non-aggression pact Bajor signed. Robert P. Smith on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 1:37 am: Adam, I thought the non-aggression treaty ended when Odo and the other Bajoran officers fought with dominion soldiers in the episode when Sisko and the others retook the station? I know its an assumption. Aaron Dotter on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 4:09 pm: I think we can safely assume that the non-aggression pact is dead by now, especially when the Bajorans let the Romulans use Derna, that's aiding the enemy. Dukat (when he was on the station) knew that Kira was involved with the terrorist actions, and surely he would have passed that on before the Dominion evacuated. Also, wouldn't somebody have wondered about all those dead Jem'Hadar that Odo's security team killed? # Hey, why is a chief petty officer briefing a captain, an admiral, and two generals. BWH on Wednesday, May 12, 1999 - 5:48 pm: Actually this kind of thing is quite common. I'm an Air Force enlisted meteorologist and I brief high-ranking officers as part of my routine duties all the time. Just because O'Brien was briefing Sisko and the others on something that fell within his admittedly wide field of expertise, does not necessarily mean that he is working for Starfleet Intelligence or Section 31. # ClintX on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 7:39 pm: If Dukat was blinded for looking at the Kosta Mojen which is intended only for the Kai, then how can Kai Winn look at it and be unharmed since she is Kai in name only. She is actually a murdering blasphemos traitor, isn't she? Mark Morgan on Monday, May 10, 1999 - 9:31 pm: Clint: sure, but she's a murdering blasphemous traitor who is working on behalf of the Pagh Wraiths. I'm thinking the PW's are a stubborn in their insistence on following their rules as the Prophets are. I mean, blinding Dukat is not much better than threatening Sisko with doom and despair if he marries. Rigid alien gods.... # Adam Howarter on Tuesday, May 11, 1999 - 4:41 am: How does Kira know Damar shot Dukat's daughter? The only ones in the hallway were Dukat and Damar. Damar hasn't had a chance to tell her, and Dukat never brought it up when they where on Empok Nor. Of course the real question of who really shot her remains. Not Damar, the beam hit her from an angle and Damar was standing directly behind Dukat. Nathan K. on Tuesday, May 11, 1999 - 9:56 am: Dukat went insane after Ziyal's death and babbled about it in the brig. It's almost certain he mentioned Damar. Aaron Dotter on Tuesday, May 11, 1999 - 3:50 pm: Couldn't Damar have simply sidestepped behind Dukat after he shot Ziyal? Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine